


No End to the Desert

by carolinecrane



Series: traveling shoes [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-08
Updated: 2010-11-08
Packaged: 2017-10-13 03:13:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/132219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinecrane/pseuds/carolinecrane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Puck's only got the one chance, so he's not planning to fuck it up.  Sequel to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/126556">40 Miles Of Bad Road</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No End to the Desert

**Author's Note:**

> With many thanks to my super-awesome betas, Jen and Rachel.

Puck doesn't get slushied on the first day. He considers hedging his bets and swinging by the convenience store to bust the slushie machine, just to make sure nobody gets a chance to catch him off guard. But he knows for a fact they've got his mugshot hanging behind the register, which means the flunky behind the counter would be on the horn to 911 before he even got through the front door, and he's not going back to Juvie for a slushie facial.

It turns out that all the slushies have been distributed by the time word gets around about him and Kurt anyway, which takes kind of a long time considering how many people were still hanging around the hall when Puck kissed him. He pretty much keeps his hands to himself for the rest of the day -- well, he mostly keeps his lips to himself, anyway -- but the few times they're actually heading in the same direction he slings an arm around Kurt's shoulders while they walk.

It's kind of new for him, because he's fucked his share of Cheerios, but he's never actually _dated_ any of them. Santana, yeah, she was the closest he got to a steady relationship, but hooking up and just hanging out because you enjoy a dude's company are two totally different things.

He enjoys Kurt's company. He also wants to have sex with him, which should be the weirdest part of all this, but it's not. What's weird is that he's willing to wait around the hall after Kurt's classes just to see his cheeks go pink when he looks up and catches sight of Puck. It's weird that it feels totally normal to put his arm around Kurt and _not_ worry about who's going to say what about it.

And okay, it's not like he doesn't know he's going to take some shit for this. Just because he gets away with it on the first day doesn't mean anybody's going to let it slide, because he's Puck, and Glee is one thing, but going gay? People aren't going to take that shit lying down.

He gets his first taste of what's coming at lunch. Normally he sits at the jock table, but Kurt sits with the rest of the Glee club dorks, so Puck passes his usual table on by and straddles the bench next to Kurt.

"Hey," he says, sliding up close and resting a hand on Kurt's waist down where nobody can see.

Kurt turns his usual shade of pink and looks over at him, surprised but kind of happy at the same time, and Puck figures this was what he meant by 'ask me after lunch'. Like maybe he was expecting Puck to ditch him and try to save face with the team, even after Puck explained just yesterday how that wouldn't work even if he wanted it to.

Which he doesn't, to be honest, because when he hasn't been hanging around Kurt this week he's been trying to figure out what to do about the fact that he _wants_ to hang around Kurt, and in all that time he hasn't missed the team once.

Aretha doesn't look surprised to see him, though she does look kind of annoyed about it, which means Kurt filled her in on the fact that they're a thing now. Dating, Puck figures. But it's pretty much his first time, so he's not sure if he's allowed to call it that yet.

"I can't believe you're serious about this," she says, but Puck can't tell if she's talking to him or Kurt. Kurt, probably. Ever since their brief relationship, which he wouldn't call dating so much as a business transaction, she hasn't had much to say to him at all. And he's fine with that, as long as she's not trying to fuck things up for him with Kurt.

"Mercedes, we've talked about this," Kurt says under his breath, like Puck can't hear him. He can probably hear better than Mercedes, because she's not straddling the bench and pressing as close to Kurt as possible without actually climbing on top of him.

Which sounds like a pretty goddamn great idea. But he's only got the one chance, and he's not planning to fuck it up.

So he keeps his hands above the waist, above the clothes too and hell, that's a bigger sacrifice than he'd make for most people. Mercedes is a little scary, though, and she's already staring at his hand where it's resting on Kurt's side, so he figures he won't push it on the first day.

"You want to hang out later?" he says, mostly so Kurt will stop staring at Mercedes and pay him some attention.

Right on cue Kurt turns back to him, his mouth curving up in a shy smile that makes Puck want to kiss him breathless. "You can come over if you want. My dad's still recovering, but Carole usually comes over on Friday and keeps him company."

Used to be a typical Friday night found Puck getting pretty wasted with some of the guys from the team, after which they'd either dare each other to do stupid shit that could get them killed, or dare each other to do stupid shit that could get them arrested. Sometimes both. If he wasn't too wasted to get it up and he actually lived through the night, he'd hook up with Santana or one of the other Cheerios, then go home, puke, and pass out.

Nowhere in there was anything resembling hanging out with Kurt, Kurt's dad, and Finn's mom. A Friday night like that, if word got out, might do more damage to his reputation than having gay sex with Kurt in front of the whole school.

"Yeah, okay," he says anyway, and when Kurt smiles at him he figures his reputation can go fuck itself.

He's still grinning at Kurt like a dork when he feels the air shift on the other side of the table, and when he looks over Finn's sliding into a seat and frowning at the two of them. "So it's true."

"What's that, Hudson?" Puck asks, because yeah, he knows what Finn's getting at, but he doesn't see how it's anybody's fucking business.

Finn ignores him and looks at Kurt, and for some reason he can't explain, it really, really bugs Puck. Like, he kind of wants to punch Finn in the face, and he hasn't felt like hitting him ever since they declared their post-baby drama truce.

"So...what, third time's the charm?" Finn says, and Puck has no fucking clue what that means, but when he looks at Kurt and sees the way his cheeks are burning, he knows it means _something_.

"It's none of your business." Kurt sounds like his usual bitchy, holier-than-thou self, but Puck's hand is still riding low on his hip, and he feels Kurt twitch under him.

"Maybe not," Finn says, looking from Kurt to Puck and back again. "But you should know that people are talking. The target on Puck's back is huge, dude. Way bigger than Sam's would have been."

And Puck's not exactly sure what that's about, but he thinks Hudson might have just implied that Kurt had something going with Sam. Sam who's currently wrapped around Quinn over at the Cheerios table, and it's not like Puck _cares_ or anything, but he kind of hates that guy.

"Dude," Puck says without taking his eyes off Kurt. "I think I can handle it."

He lets go of Kurt and stands up, then he grabs Kurt's arm and pulls him up out of his seat. And he's not losing his cool or anything, because he's not that guy anymore. Well, he's trying not to be that guy, anyway, but he can tell by the look on Kurt's face when Puck says, "come on," and drags him out of the cafeteria that maybe he's the only one who knows it.

They pass Wheels and the Asian chick on the way out, but Puck doesn't even break his stride long enough to assure them he's not dragging Kurt to the bathroom for a swirly or something. They should know by now that those days are over anyway, and if they don't, that's their problem.

In the end the most private place he can find to get some answers is the choir room. There's nobody in there, anyway, so he drags Kurt inside and kicks the door shut.

"You want to tell me what the fuck that was about?" he asks, even though he can already tell that Kurt really, really doesn't.

"It was nothing," Kurt says, but he's pursing his lips and blushing hard and he's talking to Puck's chest instead of looking him in the eye, and Puck knows when somebody's bullshitting him. "It was while you were incarcerated. I asked Sam to sing a duet with me for Glee, and Finn had another homophobic freakout about how I was going to get my gay all over him and ruin his life."

Which is pretty fucked up, and even Puck knows it. Not that Finn was wrong or anything, but Sam's a big boy, and he can make his own decisions. And anyway, Puck doesn't really give a damn if under the 'aw, shucks' routine Finn's really a homo-hater. What he does care about is why Kurt wanted to hang out with Sam in the first place.

"So that's it. You just wanted to sing with him."

Kurt shrugs and blushes some more, and yeah, it's pretty obvious that's not all he wanted.

"Fine, for awhile I thought he might be gay. It was the terrible dye job; it threw off my gaydar. Then again, I never would have predicted this, so maybe my gaydar's completely malfunctioning," Kurt adds, sort of gesturing between them like he's too embarrassed to say what they're doing out loud, and Puck kind of wishes he would, because he's not all that sure himself.

"So you wanted to get in his pants."

"No." Kurt makes a face like he's tasting something sour, then he rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. "Fine, I admit he's not completely unattractive, in a vapid, southern California kind of way. But mostly I just thought it would be nice to not be the only homo at McKinley for once. Do you know what that's like?"

"No idea," he says, because he's always been at the top of the food chain. "But you've got me now."

Kurt rolls his eyes and tries not to smile and reaches out to mess with the buttons on Puck's letter jacket. "I'd say I got the better end of the deal."

It's cheesy as fuck, but it's a compliment, so he'll take it. Puck grins and slides an arm around his waist to pull him close, but he doesn't try to cop a feel or anything, because they're still at school. Not that he's never had sex in school before. But he hasn't had sex with _Kurt_ , and he figures in the choir room at the end of lunch isn't the kind of first time Kurt's looking for.

So he settles for a kiss, and that's cool, he digs making out with Kurt. Besides, Kurt wants to hang out at his house tonight, and even with his dad home they'll probably get a chance to fool around a little. He figures that's probably worth waiting a couple hours for. Not that he's all that used to delayed gratification or whatever, but he's been trying out a lot of new things since he started hanging out with Kurt, and they've all worked out pretty well so far.

~

When Puck shows up at Kurt's place he sort of expects Finn to be hanging around, waiting to hassle them both some more for not getting his permission or whatever before they started fucking.

Not that they're fucking.

But they will be, eventually, and Finn seems kind of put out that they didn't run the plan past him first. And if it's one of his weird sort-of-brother things, fine, Puck can deal, but if it's some freaky jealousy trip, Puck's going to have to call a truce on their truce and punch him again.

When the door opens it's just Kurt, though, cheeks all pink and smiling kind of shy, like they didn't just make out in front of his locker a few hours ago. Like he's pretty happy to see Puck, which...okay, so that's different.

Santana never seemed all that glad to see him when he showed up on a Friday night, though granted, he was usually pretty wasted by then. Quinn sure as hell never seemed happy to see him coming, and even his cougars usually checked to make sure the neighbors weren't looking before they let him in.

But Kurt's not looking around to see who's watching. Kurt's eyes are on Puck and nothing else, and when Puck pulls him close and plants one on him, Kurt doesn't complain that his hands are cold or his dad's going to see. Instead he slides his arms around Puck's waist and bunches his fingers in Puck's shirt, right up under his jacket.

They're still standing in the doorway, and Puck doesn't really give a damn who sees them, but it's kind of nice to know Kurt doesn't either. Not that he's planning to run into anybody he knows hanging around on Kurt's doorstep, but it _could_ happen.

Kurt's wearing one of those complicated shirts of his, the kind with all sorts of buckles and shit down the front. Puck can feel them pressing into his chest when he pulls Kurt closer, lifting him off his feet a little to walk them into the house and kick the door shut. He's already planning his assault on the buckles when they hear someone cough down the hall, and Kurt sighs and pulls his mouth away from Puck's.

"Son, is that you? Come in here for a minute."

"My dad wants to meet you. It'll take five minutes at the most, I swear," Kurt says, fixing Puck with a look that either says 'I'm sorry' or 'I will kill you if you mess this up'. Maybe both; it's hard to say.

Puck just shrugs and lets Kurt pull him down the hall by the hand, because hell, he's waited a whole week to make his move, so another few minutes isn't going to kill him.

When they get to the living room Kurt's dad is stretched out on the couch, remote in one hand and a glass of...something in the other. It looks a little like those old people drinks his Nana buys by the case, except foamier. He's watching that show with the guys who fix up cars or whatever, and when Puck glances at the TV he sees they're working on a souped up El Camino.

Kurt's dad looks up when they walk in, ignoring Kurt completely and focusing all his attention on Puck. And it's weird, because he's stretched out on the couch in his bathrobe, drinking some old lady drink, but he still manages to make Puck feel like he's getting his mugshot taken all over again.

"Carole's having some trouble finding the teapot or something," Kurt's dad says without ever looking away from Puck. "Can you give her a hand?"

"Dad," Kurt says, and Puck's not touching him or anything, because his dad's right _there_ , but he can still feel Kurt, like, _vibrating_ a few feet away from him. "I have company."

"It'll just take a minute, Kurt. I'll keep your friend company."

Kurt makes a weird squeaking noise and takes off, and then it's just Puck and somebody's dad alone in a living room he's only been in once before.

"What's your name, son?"

"Puck. Uh...Noah Puckerman. Sir."

The words sound kind of weird coming out of his mouth, like somebody else is using his voice or something. Some other guy, one who actually meets people's parents and cares what they think about him.

"Noah." Kurt's dad looks him up and down again, eyebrow raised in a decent impression of his son. "You play football, don't you?"

"Yeah. Uh...yes, sir."

"You're what...eighteen? Nineteen?"

"Seventeen," Puck says, and yeah, he knows he looks a little older than he is, which is how he always ends up being the one to buy the beer, but he's pretty sure Kurt's dad just accused him of failing a couple grades. Which he'd know isn't true if he talked to Finn's mom, because she's known him as long as Finn, which is pretty much their whole lives.

The guys on the TV are still talking about the El Camino, tossing around words like 'classic' and Puck's not really listening, because he's sort of waiting for the moment Kurt's dad asks what his intentions are or some bullshit like that, and he still hasn't come up with a decent answer for that one. But it's a fucking El Camino, and come _on_ , so Puck's not surprised when he lets out a snort and shakes his head at the TV.

"Something funny?"

Puck looks back at Kurt's dad in time to see the narrowed eyes and the way his jaw's kind of clenching, takes in the bathrobe Kurt's probably been making him wear because when he's not at school he's here, fussing over his old man like he's trying to give Puck's Nana a run for her money. Puck hasn't even thought about that until now, but it hasn't been that long since Mr. Hummel's heart attack, so maybe he should have.

"No, sir," Puck says, though what he really wants to say is, _Come on, dude, it's a fucking El Camino._ "It's just...my old man used to drive one of those pieces of...scrap. My mom's got a few pictures. He loved that thing, more than us, I guess, because he took it with him when he left. Never thought anybody would call it a classic, is all."

He's not sure what makes him bust out a story about his old man. He doesn't really talk about it much, because what's there to say? But he's been thinking about it ever since Mr. Hummel's heart attack, thinking about Kurt and how his dad's all he's got and how cool it is that he stuck around after Kurt's mom died.

Kurt's dad is still looking at him, staring at the top of his head and it takes Puck a second or two to remember that his mohawk's coming back in, which is maybe not the best look to impress somebody's parents with. You know, if he was trying to impress anybody. He runs a hand over his scalp and considers making a break for it, but if he leaves that will probably count as blowing his one chance. So he stays where he is and lets Kurt's dad look, doesn't shuffle his feet no matter how bad he wants to, and waits.

It feels like forever before Kurt's dad finally says anything else, and Puck's starting to think Kurt's never coming back at all when he nods and turns back to the TV.

"Call me Burt, son."

He's not sure what the right answer to that is, but he's saved the trouble of trying to come up with something when Kurt reappears, looking kind of pissed and leading Finn's mom into the room. When she sees him she kind of stops walking for a second, then she shakes her head a little, like she's trying to shake something loose, and sits down on the couch next to Burt.

"Noah. How are you?"

"Hey, Mrs. H."

He and Finn have that whole truce thing, but they haven't exactly been hanging out, at least not the way they used to, so he hasn't actually seen Finn's mom since the whole Babygate drama played out. Which doesn't explain why she's looking at him like she's never seen him before, but when Kurt clears his throat and Puck looks over and sees him blushing, he thinks he gets it.

Kurt told his dad Puck was coming over to hang out, but he didn't just say _my friend Puck from Glee_ or _that douche bag who used to toss me in the dumpster until he got a handle on his man rage and decided he'd rather make out with me_ '. Kurt told his dad his _boyfriend_ was coming over to hang out, and for some stupid reason Puck totally doesn't get, the thought makes him grin like his Nana after she wins back her money on a scratch ticket.

Then he remembers that Finn's _mom_ is sitting on the couch staring at him like he's some kind of alien life form, and he stops smiling. Because she probably knows he just got out of Juvie, just like she knows all about Babygate and how Puck broke the 'bros before hos' rule, just that one time, and it's not like it was even his fault, because Quinn, like, _threw_ herself at him, and what was he supposed to do?

Still. He feels kind of bad about it. He's not the one who lied to Finn about who was the Baby Daddy, but he never set him straight, either, and chances are Mrs. H is still holding that against him. Chances are she told Kurt's dad the whole story, too, and man, Lima feels like a small fucking town now that he's playing 'meet the parents'.

It's not that he never _saw_ Santana's parents. They knew he existed, mostly because they saw him leaving the house every so often. But they never actually talked to him, and for all he knows they still think he's the pool boy or something, because Santana never bothered to tell them who he is. Then again, Puck's wondered once or twice if Santana's old man even knows who _Santana_ is, so it's not like he ever lost any sleep over it.

He knows Quinn has parents too, knows her dad's kind of an asshole but that her mom came around eventually. He heard her crying about it a few times when she was staying at his house, but they didn't exactly hang out sharing their feelings back then, and she sure as hell never offered to introduce him to his baby's grandparents.

Come to think of it, Kurt's the first person Puck's ever fucked -- okay, potentially fucked -- who's even let him in through the front door when there were parents home. Puck's not sure what that means, exactly, but he knows he doesn't want to mess it up.

"We'll be downstairs," Kurt says, then he grabs Puck's sleeve and pulls him toward the door, and Puck doesn't have much choice but to follow him.

"Door open," Burt calls after them, and Puck doesn't have to look to know Kurt's blushing even harder now. He looks anyway, mostly because he likes the way Kurt looks when he blushes.

Kurt's room is huge. It's more like an apartment than a room, with a couch and an entertainment center and some weird desk thing with bottles and shit all over it, and then there's the bed.

Normally Puck would be headed straight for it, stretching out and making himself at home and looking damn good doing it. Instead he's just standing at the foot of the stairs, and he's not sure what's stopping him. Kurt wants him and they both know it, so it's not like he'd even have to work for it the way he did with Quinn and a couple of the more uptight Cheerios.

"I'm sorry about that. He can be...overprotective."

Kurt's standing right next to him, voice low and yeah, sort of embarrassed, which is stupid, because at least Kurt's dad gives a damn. It's more than Puck can say about his own father, anyway, and considering Burt almost _died_ just a few weeks ago, Puck figures he should get a pass on the overprotective thing for awhile.

"No sweat," is all he says, then he turns into Kurt and slides an arm around his waist. Because yeah, he's a stud, and this is the whole reason they're here, so they might as well get down to business. Except instead of easing Kurt toward the bed and distracting him from protests about his dad and open doors, Puck finds himself backing Kurt toward the couch.

Which...whatever, still a flat surface with plenty of room to stretch out, so he sits down and drags Kurt down next to him, then he leans in to mouth his way along Kurt's neck. Kurt sighs and tilts his head to one side, then he presses a hand against Puck's chest, right above his heartbeat.

Kurt's other hand slides around the back of Puck's neck and presses, then Kurt leans back and yeah, Puck gets what he wants, and he's a giving guy, so he lets Kurt pull him down until they're lying on the couch. He's sort of lying half on top of Kurt, knee pressed between Kurt's thighs and this is more like it, except the door at the top of the stairs is still open and that means they won't even get any warning before Burt walks in on them.

And here's the thing: He's kind of scared of Kurt's dad. Not that he thinks the dude's going to kill him or anything. In fact, Burt's been pretty cool to him so far; he hasn't kicked Puck out of his house, anyway, and if anybody has good reason to hate him on sight, it's Kurt's dad. But he hasn't freaked out about Puck's history with Kurt, which granted, he maybe doesn't know about, but Puck's pretty sure he knows about the Finn stuff, and that's reason enough not to trust him.

Burt hasn't freaked out about anything, though; instead he's letting Puck hang out alone with Kurt in his room, and he's called Puck 'son' twice now. And Puck isn't going to admit it out loud or anything, but that's kind of cool to hear. So mostly he's afraid of Burt walking in on Puck deflowering Kurt and giving him another heart attack, and that's not blood Puck wants on his hands.

As soon as he thinks it he pushes off Kurt, easing out of what's a stronger grip than he expected and sitting up. "Uh."

And that's real fucking eloquent, but he's not sure how to tell Kurt he's worried about killing his dad without sounding like a total pussy. For a second Kurt blinks up at him like he's not sure what just happened, then he frowns and sits up and runs his hands over all the stupid buckles on the front of his shirt like he's just making sure they're still there.

"Did you want to watch a movie or something?" Kurt asks, but his voice is kind of tight and he's not really looking at Puck, which means Puck just did something wrong.

The last thing Puck wants to do is watch some lame movie; what he wants is to figure out those fucking buckles, then he wants to get Kurt naked and try his hand at sucking cock. He knows what he likes, after all, so he figures it can't be all that tricky. Anyway, it's not like Kurt's got anything to compare it to, so the way he sees it, Puck's already ahead of the game.

But Kurt's dad is still upstairs, chilling on the couch with Finn's mom and probably watching some boring chick flick she likes and wondering what the hell Puck's doing to his kid in the basement. So Puck shrugs and leans back on the couch, reaches down to adjust his hard-on and watches Kurt follow the movement of his hand and blush all over again.

"Whatever."

Which is how he ends up sitting on the couch next to Kurt, watching some cheesy fucking movie about summer camp or something that doesn't even make any sense. There's singing, which is probably why Kurt likes it, and some douchey blond kid who plays sports and everybody around him, and he doesn't look like Sam or anything, but they're both blond, which is enough to make Puck wonder.

Kurt hasn't touched him since he put the movie in, and that wasn't really Puck's plan when he put the brakes on, because he'd rather Kurt's dad not walk in on Puck's first ever blow job or anything, but that doesn't mean they can't make out a little.

Puck looks over to find Kurt at the far end of the couch with his arms crossed over his chest, and he can tell by the way Kurt's sitting that this whole thing is going seriously wrong, but he's not sure what to do about it. Plus, there's the whole blond douche bag part of the equation.

"You sure you're not pining or whatever for Sam?"

"What?" Kurt's voice is sharp, and when Puck looks over Kurt's staring at him like he's crazy. He feels kind of crazy, so it's not that surprising. "Are you serious?"

"Hey, I'm not the one who picked a movie about some blond asshole who's in love with himself."

For a few seconds Kurt just looks at him, then he relaxes a little and smiles and Puck's chest _aches_ with how relieved he is not to have fucked up completely.

"To be honest, I don't really know Sam well enough to say if he's a narcissist. He might really just be that shallow, you know."

"I don't know what any of that means," Puck says, then he slides down the couch until he's close enough to put an arm around Kurt's shoulders. "So you really don't want to make out with him?"

"No," Kurt says, eyes on Puck's mouth now, and that's an improvement from a few minutes ago, anyway. "I promise you I don't want to make out with Sam."

"Good." Puck grins and sways a little closer, brushing a kiss against Kurt's mouth before he settles back on the couch and lets Kurt lean into his side. "So this Vlad dude...is he going to turn out to be a homo or what?"

He doesn't really give a damn about the movie, but he lets Kurt explain the story anyway. Once he's got the basics down Kurt goes quiet, leaning heavy against him and resting a hand on Puck's chest. When Kurt's breathing evens out and gets deeper Puck looks down, and he huffs out a quiet laugh at the sight of Kurt sleeping on him.

When he considered what 'hanging out' with Kurt might involve, Puck pictured a whole lot more naked and a lot less sleeping. But Kurt's been yawning all fucking day, and Puck knows it's kind of his fault for giving Kurt the night to lie awake and try to talk himself out of wanting Puck so bad he can't think straight. Not that he's really proving it by falling asleep like an hour into their first date.

Then again, if they're dating, then the naked part is probably supposed to wait awhile. Not that Puck knows all that much about dating anybody, let alone another dude, but he's heard that when you like somebody for real you're not just supposed to skip right to the sex. He hasn't figured out _why_ yet, because he's still going to like Kurt just fine after they have sex, but if that's the way it's supposed to work, he figures it can't hurt to give it a try.

~

Puck's first -- well, his first post-gay, anyway -- slushie facial happens bright and early Monday morning. He's headed toward Kurt's locker, cup of coffee in hand, and he's not going to make it a habit or anything, but he kind of likes watching Kurt smile at him like he hung the fucking moon when he hands over caffeine, so it's worth the four bucks every once in awhile.

Whichever asshole hits him with the slushie manages to miss Kurt's coffee, anyway, so once Puck wipes his eyes and shakes off the sting of humiliation, he keeps walking until he reaches Kurt's locker. Kurt's smile fades when he sees that Puck's wearing grape slushie all over his face and his jacket, but he takes the coffee Puck holds out to him and reaches into his locker for something, then he closes it and grabs Puck's hand.

"Come on."

Puck doesn't have a clue where they're going, but it's not like it _matters_ , so he lets Kurt pull him down the hall and into what turns out to be the girls' restroom. And this is one place Puck hasn't actually been, so he takes a minute to look around, just for the hell of it. The lack of urinals is a given, but it's a lot cleaner in here than the boys' bathroom, and that's bullshit.

"What the fuck, the guys' bathroom never smells this good."

There are a couple girls standing at the sinks farthest away from the door, and when Puck finally notices them he realizes they're staring like they've never seen a guy before. They're not staring at Kurt, probably because he treats the girls' restroom like it's his office or something, but Puck's definitely a new addition.

"Excuse us," Kurt says to the girls, and they're freshmen, so they bail pretty quick, but Puck has a feeling even if they were seniors they'd probably clear out if Kurt told them to in that voice. Maybe not if they were Cheerios, but Kurt's a Cheerio now too, so maybe he'd even be able to pull that off.

And he's been through this before, so once they're alone Puck ducks his head under the sink and turns the water on. He runs his hands over his scalp until it stops feeling sticky, then he turns off the water and reaches out blindly for a towel. Instead he gets Kurt's hands on his neck, pressing paper towels under his collar to catch the water before his shirt gets any more soaked than it already is.

Kurt dries off the back of his head next, fingers combing through his mohawk and that's kind of a turn-on. Once Kurt's done with his head Puck straightens up and lets Kurt dab at his face with more paper towels, lips pursed like he's determined to make sure he doesn't miss a spot. And that's nice and all, but it's kind of overkill, so Puck catches Kurt's hand and grins.

"Thanks," he says, then he leans in for a kiss.

Kurt's other hand is still pressed against the side of his face, and when Puck opens his mouth and pushes his tongue past Kurt's teeth, Kurt gasps and slides his hands under Puck's jacket.

When he kissed Kurt, Puck wasn't really thinking about taking it any further than a simple 'thanks', maybe 'good morning' and 'Jesus, why didn't we spend all weekend just making out?' He wasn't thinking about trying to get anybody out of their clothes, but before he knows it Kurt's pushing his jacket off and dropping it on the sink behind him, then his hands are pushing up under Puck's shirt.

"Take this off," Kurt says, and yeah, Puck can get behind that, because Kurt sounds kind of breathless and his eyes are a lot darker than usual when Puck pulls back to follow orders. He grins and looks right at Kurt while he pulls his shirt over his head, then he drops it on the sink next to his jacket.

As soon as his shirt's gone Kurt's moving forward again, but he's got more paper towels in his hand and instead of going in for another kiss he's wiping more slushie off Puck's chest. So maybe they're not having sex in the girls' bathroom after all, but Puck slides an arm around Kurt and pulls him forward until their dicks are flush anyway, just in case there's a chance of changing his mind.

Kurt's breath catches in his throat and he looks up at Puck, then he blushes and drops his eyes back to Puck's chest. "Don't you dare get slushie on my shirt."

"Babe, I took this hit for you," Puck says, which is true, so he's not sure why Kurt frowns and pushes out of his grip.

"If you're expecting some kind of reward for chivalry, you can forget it. I've lost far more of my wardrobe to slushies than you could even dream of. Some of them administered by you, if you'll recall."

And yeah, he recalls just fine. He knows what he did, knows what he let everybody else do, too, just like he knows he probably could have put a stop to all of it a long time ago. Then again, maybe his word never carried as much weight as he thought, because he's standing in the girls' bathroom wearing grape slushie and letting the gay kid clean him up. The gay kid who's his boyfriend now, and it's worth a hundred slushies if it convinces Kurt that he'd take it all back if he could.

Puck blows out a frustrated breath and looks down at his bare chest, wondering if it's worth it to pull his sticky jacket back on long enough to make it to the locker room where he's got a spare t-shirt stashed. It would be more comfortable just to go shirtless, but he heard about Finn's weird brush with streaking while he was in Juvie, and he figures Figgins is probably still a little jumpy about anybody showing off too much student body.

Asking Kurt to go get his spare shirt is pretty much out of the question, though, so it's not like he has much of a choice. Which means he's wearing the jacket, because he's not getting suspended over a slushie. Puck sighs again and looks around for his jacket, but before he spots it he sees Kurt holding something out to him.

"Put this on."

He still sounds pissed, but he's got a shirt in his hand, one of those button-up deals with stripes in weird colors and okay, it's a little gayer than Puck's usual style, but he's not going to complain about that now. At least it doesn't have a million buckles or weird shit on the shoulders or anything, so he takes it and slides it on.

"Thanks," he says, even though what he means is 'I'm sorry'.

And maybe Kurt gets that, because he rolls his eyes and reaches for the front of the shirt to start fastening buttons. When he's finished Kurt takes a step back, raising one eyebrow and just looking at Puck for a second before he reaches out again and unfastens the button closest to Puck's neck.

"Frankly it's an improvement over your usual wardrobe. Whoever hit you did you a favor."

Puck's pretty sure he's being insulted, but he doesn't really give a damn about his clothes, so he lets it go. "Listen, Kurt...for what it's worth, I'm sorry I was an asshole to you for so long."

Kurt shrugs and looks away. "You didn't slushie me all that much anyway."

"Yeah, Berry was always more fun. She always looked so damn surprised, you know?" Puck says, and he knows it makes him that same asshole, but he laughs at the memory of Rachel's expression anyway.

Kurt glances at him again, and Puck can tell he's trying not to smile. "I suppose I should thank you for avoiding the blue raspberry. Though the cherry wasn't easy to get out of my Dior cowl neck."

"That blue shit tastes gross," Puck says, then he grins and reaches out to grip the front of Kurt's jacket and tug him forward. "Tell you what, I'll take all the slushie hits from now on."

"I hardly think that's a promise you can keep," Kurt answers, but he lets Puck pull him into a kiss anyway. And Puck doesn't argue, because maybe Kurt's right. But he's going to do whatever he can to make good on his word, and maybe someday Kurt will believe that he really is sorry.

~

It takes Kurt three days, a bunch of treatments Puck doesn't really pay attention to, and a trip to the dry cleaner before Puck's letter jacket is slushie-free. Puck spends the whole time telling Kurt he's wasting his time, that even if he does get that shit out, somebody's just going to dump another slushie on him as soon as he shows up in his jacket again.

In the meantime he's been wearing a winter coat his Nana bought him. It's a weird shade of green and it's kind of puffy, and Puck's pretty sure Kurt's embarrassed to be seen with him while he's wearing it. He can't prove it or anything, but on the day Kurt hands him back his letter jacket he makes a face at his Nana's coat and says, "At least now you can send that hideous thing back where it came from."

"I told you, as soon as I walk back into school with this thing on someone's going to hit me," Puck says, but he shrugs into the letter jacket anyway. "They're aiming for the _jacket_. Nobody's slushied me in three days because I haven't been going around disgracing the McKinley letters with my gay."

"First of all, you're not gay," Kurt says, hands fussing with Puck's collar like it's the first time he's tried the damn thing on. "And secondly, they're not going to forgive you for fraternizing with McKinley's resident homo just because you're wearing that...that...crime against fashion."

Puck's pretty sure he's wrong, but he wears the letter jacket to school the next day anyway. He makes it as far as the front door before he's wearing a cherry slushie and a week's worth of detentions for punching the guy who threw it in the jaw. And yeah, the other guy gets detention too, but it doesn't make Puck feel any better about the fact that he's stuck after school every day for the rest of the week.

Between Glee and football practice and Kurt's weird insistence on actually studying, they hardly see either other long enough to make out a little, let alone move on to anything heavier. Then there's the fact that Kurt's dad is always around his place, which, yeah, heart attack, so it's not like Puck's going to bitch about it. And even though Kurt's got a pretty big back seat in his Navigator, Puck's not crazy about the idea of doing it for the first time in a car.

Granted, it never bothered him before, but Puck really has been a complete dick to Kurt pretty much the whole time they've known each other, and he figures he owes it to Kurt to at least try to do this right.

But now he's got detention on top of everything else, which means he can't even cop a feel in Kurt's truck after school. Kurt doesn't complain, but Puck can tell he's not impressed. He just takes Puck's jacket again and gets to work, and when Puck shows up the next day in the green coat Kurt looks a little bit like he wants to cry.

And yeah, Puck gets it, but he's got bigger things to worry about than Kurt's fashion sensibilities or whatever. The guys have been relentless in practice all week, checking him extra hard every chance they get. He's been giving back as good as he gets, which means by the time Friday rolls around he's so sore he's pretty sure he wouldn't even notice a slushie to the face. Until somebody gets him right down the back of the neck with the fucking blue kind, and then Puck's freezing _and_ sore.

Kurt finds him in the girls' bathroom, and Puck's not sure when he moved in there, but now that he's hanging out with Kurt, most of the girls seem to think he's one of them anyway. So maybe he's not totally gay, but he's gay enough to count in Lima, he figures, and he just nods at the girl standing at a mirror putting on lipstick and ducks his head under the sink.

He's reaching for a handful of towels when the door opens, and when Puck looks up Kurt's standing next to the sink staring at him.

"Come over after detention," he says, then he hands Puck another handful of towels.

"Okay," Puck says, like he wasn't already planning on showing up at Kurt's house the minute they finally let him out.

Kurt just looks at him for a minute, then he reaches up and touches Puck's cheek. When he leans forward and presses their lips together Puck's too surprised to push for more, which means he's not quick enough to stop Kurt before he pulls away. A second later he's gone, and it's not until Puck's in the locker room changing out of his slushie-covered shirt that he realizes Kurt took his coat with him when he left.

Which means he's freezing his ass off by the time he gets to Kurt's place, and as soon as the door opens he's inside and pushing it shut again.

"Jesus, it's fucking cold out there," Puck says, though he's not really sure Kurt can understand him, considering his teeth are chattering hard enough to make his brain rattle. "What'd you do with my coat, anyway?"

Instead of answering Kurt takes Puck's hand and pulls him toward the basement door, avoiding the living room and his dad and Puck's sort of disappointed that he doesn't at least get to say hi. Then again, it's warm in Kurt's room, and he's holding onto Puck like he's got some kind of plan, so Puck's willing to let him lead for awhile.

They stop next to Kurt's bed and Puck glances down at it, then he raises an eyebrow and looks at Kurt again. "You planning to help me warm up?"

"I could be persuaded," Kurt says, but before Puck gets a chance to do any actual persuading, he's backing toward the table on the other side of the bed. "I have something for you."

Puck thinks about telling Kurt that he's wearing what Puck wants, but he can't remember the last time somebody who wasn't his mom or his Nana gave him an actual present, so he just waits while Kurt picks up a box wrapped in plain brown paper and hands it over.

"You got me a present?"

Kurt just shrugs and blushes a little and sits down on the edge of the bed. "Think of it as survival gear."

Puck raises his eyebrows, but he opens the box anyway, tearing through paper and cardboard until he pulls out something dark and soft. When he unfolds it he realizes it's a jacket: a leather motorcycle jacket, the kind that's solid black and fitted.

Puck's still frowning at it when Kurt stands up and pulls it out of his hands, then he's behind Puck, holding the jacket open and nudging Puck's elbow until he catches up and helps Kurt slide it on.

"You bought me a new jacket?"

"Technically it's pre-owned," Kurt says, and the way his mouth puckers a little around the words 'pre-owned' would be funny if Puck wasn't so busy trying to figure out _why_ Kurt bought him a jacket.

"But the person who sold it to me took excellent care of the leather, and I treated it again when it arrived, so it should be one hundred percent slushie-proof."

Kurt's hands are on him again, smoothing over his shoulders and then tugging the front of the jacket closed, like he's making sure it fits. And it does, like a goddamn _glove_ , which is really fucking cool, and totally fucked up. Because he might not have slushied Kurt all that often back before they were...whatever, but he did plenty of other shitty things to him, and the nicest thing he ever did was give Kurt a minute to take off his jacket before Puck tossed him in the dumpster.

So now he's the one with the giant gay target on his back, and practically the first thing Kurt does is find a way to accessorize him that isn't going to cost him all his savings from Sheets 'n' Stuff in dry cleaning bills.

"Kurt..."

"It's nothing," Kurt interrupts, but his voice gets a little higher and his cheeks are burning, and that's not 'nothing', not by a long shot. "I traded some old things I never even wear anymore. Frankly the person I traded with got a steal. This jacket isn't exactly fashion-forward, but you've got the right build to pull off that whole James Dean hoodlum look."

Puck's not exactly sure what he means by that, but he thinks it's a compliment. He grins and catches Kurt's hand where it's still fiddling with the front of Puck's new jacket, fingers sliding through Kurt's and pulling him forward.

"Thanks," he says, then he hooks an arm around Kurt's waist and kisses him hard.

They've been officially dating or whatever for a full week now, and Puck blew off Santana almost a week before that, which means this is his longest dry spell that didn't involve a jail cell. He's been half-hard since Kurt dragged him down the stairs, and now that Kurt's pressed up against him Puckzilla's standing at attention.

Puck growls against Kurt's mouth and grinds into him, grinning into the kiss when Kurt gasps and tries to pull Puck even closer. He can feel Kurt's hard-on through his skinny jeans, and seriously, those things are so fucking tight they _have_ to hurt. There's not even enough room in them for Puck to get his hand in Kurt's back pocket, and when he tries, Kurt lets out a little hitching moan and thrusts up hard against him.

Which is exactly the moment the front door opens, then Kurt's dad is shouting his name down the stairs. And the weird thing is Kurt's not letting go, even though his dad's right fucking _there_ , probably about two seconds from coming down the stairs to catch his only son grinding against Puck like he's getting paid.

Puck figures Kurt's too far gone to hear the door and lets go, backing to a safe distance about half a second before Kurt's dad does make an appearance at the bottom of the stairs. He looks at Kurt first, then Puck, and Kurt hasn't changed his pants in the last five seconds, so it's probably pretty obvious what they were doing.

For some reason the suspicious look Burt gives him makes Puck feel a lot like he did when his mom came to visit him in Juvie.

"Noah. Kurt didn't tell me you were coming over."

Puck shrugs and doesn't look at Kurt, because he's pretty sure if he does he might lose it right in front of Kurt's dad. "It was kind of a last-minute thing."

Burt nods and looks at Kurt again, but he's just standing there, blushing, Puck figures. Maybe thinking about Finn's mom naked so he doesn't come in his pants. Puck chokes back a snort of laughter and ducks his head and hopes Kurt's not looking at him.

"I can take off if you've got plans or something," Puck says, and this time he does look at Kurt, but Kurt's busy staring at his dad like he's practicing talking without actually moving his mouth.

"Fridays are family dinner nights," Burt answers, and when he looks at Kurt, Puck thinks maybe they really have got the hang of that whole silent talking thing, because he's missing a whole lot of this conversation. "But you're welcome to stay, Noah. Finn and Carole will be here soon."

Puck pictures Kurt and Finn sitting around the dining room table with Kurt's dad and Finn's mom, talking about school and Glee and maybe how much better the football team's doing now that they've got a decent coach. He wonders how often Finn has dinner at Kurt's house, and what it is Finn and Kurt _do_ once dinner's over and they're supposed to hang out and bond or whatever.

He used to give Finn a lot of shit about being secretly in love with Kurt. He never really believed it -- hell, he figures now that maybe he was just projecting or whatever -- but he's still not crazy about the idea of Finn hanging around Kurt's room with him while their parents are upstairs on some weird old people date.

Then again, Finn wasn't around when Puck showed up after dinner last Friday, so maybe he bails as soon as the table's clear. Knowing him he heads straight for Berry's house to sit on the edge of her girlie fucking bed and bitch about being forced to have family dinner at the Hummels' and ignore the fact that if he just put in a little effort, she'd probably put out. Puck would know; not that he ever fucked her, but they made out a couple times, and he could tell all it would take is a little persuading.

A month ago family dinner night at the Hummel house would have sounded like Puck's worst nightmare. A month ago he might have chosen Juvie over dinner at Kurt's house, if anybody had offered him a choice. So the fact that he's opening his mouth and saying, "As long as it's cool with Kurt," is a surprise even to him, but he doesn't try to take it back.

"Dad," Kurt says, but now he's staring at Puck, "can I speak to P...Noah alone, please?"

Puck doesn't hear what Burt says. All he knows is that a minute later they're alone again, and Kurt's still staring at him like he's trying to figure out Puck's angle. Like maybe he was expecting Puck to make up some excuse and get the hell out of there, and now he's not sure what to do.

"You don't have to stay."

Puck shrugs and lets his gaze wander from Kurt's face down to his crotch. His pants still aren't leaving anything to the imagination, and Puck feels his own dick twitch when he pictures how easy it would be to take care of that for Kurt. It wouldn't even take long; they've been building up to it for a whole week now, and Puck knows for a fact that when he does finally get in Kurt's pants, he'll be the first.

So pretty much all he'd have to do is pop open Kurt's button fly and palm his dick and Kurt would probably come right in his hand. It wouldn't even take any technique, which seems like a shame, but at least they'd have somewhere to go from there. A hand job would be kind of messy, though, and a blow job would be more efficient.

That wouldn't take any time at all either, even if Puck doesn't really know what the hell he's doing. All he'd have to do is drop to his knees and take Kurt's dick out and wrap his lips around it, and Kurt would probably jerk his hips once and come on Puck's tongue. He figures he should be grossed out at the idea of some dude coming in his mouth, but mostly he just wonders what it's going to taste like.

And he really wants to drag Kurt into the bathroom or maybe what Puck figures is a walk-in closet the size of Puck's whole room and blow him. He really, _really_ wants to. But Kurt's dad is right upstairs, and Finn and his mom are on their way over, and if Puck fucks this up because he still hasn't managed to develop any of that impulse control Finn used to rag on him about, Kurt's not going to give him another chance.

"I'll take off if you want me to," he finally says. "But if I'm staying, you should maybe put on some different pants."

Kurt blushes so hard Puck can practically feel it from five feet away, then he crosses his arms hard over his chest, and Puck's pretty sure he did something wrong, but he has no idea what. Before he can ask Kurt's muttering something about meeting him upstairs and then disappearing into what Puck assumes is the giant fucking closet he's never seen, which means Kurt expects him to go up and, like, hang out with Burt until Kurt decides to put in an appearance.

Puck thinks about staying, throwing himself down on the couch or maybe the bed he still hasn't even tried out, and seriously, he's starting to wonder if going gay broke him or something. He thinks about following Kurt into his giant closet and trying out that blow job plan, just to prove to himself that he's still a stud. But then Kurt will just get pissy, and most of Puck's blood has been diverted from his brain for long enough at this point that he's too confused to deal with a pissed off Kurt.

In the end he climbs the stairs and heads for the living room, expecting to find Burt parked on the couch watching another show about dudes fixing up shitty cars. Instead he finds Finn sitting on the couch, looking like he'd rather be just about anywhere else. He looks up when Puck walks in, frowning and watching while Puck sprawls in the chair across from him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Burt invited me. What, Kurt's not allowed to bring a date to family dinner night?" Puck asks, and it's almost worth dealing with Kurt's attitude just to see the look on Finn's face.

"So you're really gay now?"

And the thing is, he sounds like it really bothers him. Like he's taking it personally that Puck's...well, hanging out with Kurt, anyway.

"You know me, Hudson," he says, flashing his best grin and settling a little further in his chair, "I'll try anything once."

Mostly he's just messing with Finn because he's being kind of a dick about this whole thing, but the truth is he didn't really know whether or not he'd like making out with Kurt until he tried it. He thought about it, sure, and he watched enough gay porn to know what he was getting himself into. But until he kissed Kurt that first time by his car, Puck didn't even know if he was going to go through with it or just say fuck it and start sexting Santana again.

He's pretty glad he chose option A and all, even if he hasn't actually gotten in Kurt's -- seriously, _crazy_ tight -- pants yet. But he's sort of enjoying the indignant look on Finn's face, and Puck figures this is where he's going to bust out the lecture on how Kurt's his sort-of-brother now and if Puck hurts him Finn's going to have to hurt Puck. He _wants_ Finn to bust out that speech, because at least then he'll know for sure that Finn hasn't secretly been gay for Kurt all this time.

Before Finn manages to do more than blush and stammer something that's not even English, Kurt appears in the doorway. Puck has no idea how long he's been standing there, but the pants he's wearing now are way looser, which means Puck isn't going to spend the whole night adjusting himself under the table and trying not to think about sucking Kurt off while his dad's right in the same room, so that's something.

He still looks pretty good, though, all pink-cheeked and nervous, lips wet and red and Puck knows from experience just how soft they are. He thinks about crossing the room and kissing Kurt right in front of Finn, just to freak him out, but he knows it would freak out Kurt too, so he stays put and grins at Kurt instead. Kurt doesn't smile back, but Puck figures he's just freaked out about his dad walking in on them. It's understandable, considering.

"Soup's on," Burt says, leaning out of the dining room to frown at the three of them.

"Thanks, Mr. H," Puck answers, turning his smile on Kurt's dad until he nods and disappears back into the dining room again.

Puck waits until Finn follows Burt to stand up, then he crosses the room to stand in front of Kurt. And he wants to touch, but Kurt's dad is right in the next room, so instead he shoves his hands in his pockets and leans into Kurt's personal space.

"Dude, relax. I don't think your dad saw anything before."

For a second Kurt just glares up at him, arms crossed over his chest and okay, maybe he's not just freaked out about his dad.

"Don't call me that," he says, then he pushes past Puck and marches toward the dining room.

Puck lets out a sigh and casts a longing glance at the front door. He could bail, salvage what's left of his Friday and go get drunk or something, but if he does that he knows Kurt's not going to give him another chance. Then again, judging by the look Kurt just gave him, Puck thinks he might have blown his chance already.

~

Dinner's not as awful as it could be, mostly because Burt spends the entire time asking him and Finn questions about football. And that's a language Puck speaks, at least, so he manages to hold his own in the conversation. In fact, he pretty much carries the conversation, because Finn's still glaring at him and Kurt and spitting out one-word answers when Burt asks him a question without even bothering to look away from Puck.

If anybody else thinks it's weird they don't let on, so Puck figures Finn's little bitch-fits must be standard around here. Which is kind of weird, because he knows Finn was pissed about his mom moving on in the beginning, but he figured after the whole 'we're almost brothers' speech he gave Kurt a few weeks back, that Finn was over it. He knows Finn thinks Burt's pretty cool, anyway, and Puck can't really disagree there.

Then again, Kurt's _brooding_ so loud next to him that there's no way everybody at the table hasn't noticed, so maybe it's just some kind of game Kurt and Finn play at their weekly family dinners. 'Who can be the biggest bitch and ruin everybody else's good time' sounds pretty much exactly like the kind of thing they'd bond over.

And he doesn't really care what crawled up Finn's ass, but he cares what Kurt's problem is, mostly because he's pretty sure it's somehow his fault. Still, it's not like he can ask with Kurt's entire family sitting right there. Instead he waits for a break in the conversation and reaches under the table, feeling around for Kurt's hand. Not that he's ever been all that big on hand-holding -- he's not sure he's ever done it, now that he thinks about it -- but he figures that's the kind of thing people do when they're dating.

Besides, he likes touching Kurt, even if it's just their fingers pressed together under the table. Except when he finally makes contact Kurt flinches and, like, _jerks_ away from him. Nobody else notices, but Puck does, and it takes pretty much everything in him not to stand up and walk out. The only reason he doesn't is because he knows Kurt won't follow him, and if he leaves he won't be able to get Kurt alone and ask him what the fuck his problem is.

He keeps his hands to himself all through dessert, keeps his mouth shut too and only half-listens to the conversation. Nobody's talking to him anyway, because the conversation's moved on to Finn and Rachel's plans for the winter formal McKinley puts on in the gym every year. It's always got some lame name like the Snow Ball or something, but beyond that Puck's never paid much attention. He's sure as hell never bothered to go to one, and as long as Mr. Schue's not making them sing at it, Puck doesn't really give a damn about the dance at all.

Kurt probably does, though.

It dawns on him all of a sudden, while Finn's telling his mom about Berry's latest psychotic break over the dress she's having special ordered from somewhere on the coast. Puck glances at Kurt, taking in the way his hand's gripping his fork and the way he's still not looking at Puck. He's brooding about the formal; that has to be it, and Puck feels about a thousand times better once he figures out what the problem is.

"Do you want to go?"

The question's out of his mouth before he even knows he's thinking it, and everybody at the table stops talking and just looks at him. Even Kurt's looking at him now, probably for the first time since they sat down, only he's not smiling like Puck figured he would be. His face is all red and his eyes are narrowed again, like maybe he's less interested in the winter formal than in where he could hide Puck's body.

"Excuse me?"

"The formal. I mean, I don't care about some dance, but if you want to go, I'll take you. I've still got my tux from Acafellas."

"I think we should discuss this privately," Kurt says, his voice dropping like maybe he thinks if he whispers nobody else will hear him. Except his dad's sitting right on his other side, and unless he went deaf in the past two minutes, he can hear just fine.

"Why?"

Kurt huffs out an impatient breath and stands up, and when Puck doesn't follow he jerks his head toward the door. Puck rolls his eyes, but he pushes his chair back and stands up, pausing long enough to glance at Kurt's dad.

"Thanks for dinner."

"Any time," Burt calls after him, but he sounds a little unsure, like he's wondering if he's ever going to see Puck again. Truth is, Puck's kind of wondering the same thing.

He follows Kurt back down to his room, leaves the door open because he's pretty sure that rule's still in effect even if they're just coming down here to break up without an audience. And Puck really doesn't want to break up, but he's starting to think it would be easier than trying to figure out Kurt.

"So you don't want to go to the dance?"

Kurt's mouth opens, but the only sound he makes is a weird little squeak. Then he shuts it again and clears his throat, and Puck watches while he pulls himself together and sticks his chin in the air.

"Whether or not I'd like to go to the formal is beside the point. I certainly don't expect you to take me."

"Did I miss something here? Is this because I called you dude? If I knew it bugged you that much I wouldn't have said it."

Kurt rolls his eyes and crosses his arms and manages to look almost as scary as Santana when she's PMSing. "Don't be stupid."

"Then what the fuck? Before your dad got home you were practically climbing all over me, and now you're the fucking ice queen."

He's blushing even harder now, and Puck's starting to worry that he's going to do some permanent damage. Except his eyes are kind of bright and glittery like Quinn's used to get when she was crazy from the baby hormones and freaking out about how her life was over, and Puck has no idea what to do if Kurt starts crying.

"Did you or did you not tell Finn that this whole thing is some bizarre sexual experiment?" Kurt says, and he's whispering again, so at first Puck's not even sure he heard right.

But if he did it explains a lot, especially the way Kurt reacted when Puck tried to touch him at dinner. Only Puck has no clue where he got that idea, because he's barely talked to Finn since they got together.

"I didn't tell Finn shit."

"There's no point in lying about it. I heard you. You sat right there in my living room and said, and I quote, 'I'll try anything once'."

"Jesus, Kurt, I was just fucking with him," Puck says. "You really think I trashed my rep and two jackets...what, just to find out if I liked giving head? I haven't even _tried_ to have sex with you, have I?"

"Well, no," Kurt says, looking up at Puck without really _looking_ at him. "And if you're having second thoughts, you should just tell me. Don't drag it out just to spare my feelings. I knew full well that there was a very good chance you'd decide you were one hundred percent heterosexual after all. So if you don't want…this, you should just say so. I realize you find yourself completely irresistible, but trust me when I say that I can deal with the rejection. I was perfectly fine with just being friends to begin with."

He's talking fast, arms kind of hugging his waist and Puck really wants to reach out and peel his fingers away from his shirt where he's twisting the fabric into a mess of wrinkles he's just going to bitch about later.

"Are you kidding?" Puck says, because seriously, if Kurt really thinks Puck doesn't want him, he hasn't been paying attention. And yeah, okay, he hasn't pushed it or anything, but that's just because their timing has kind of sucked so far. "For fuck's sake, Kurt, I'm trying to do this right for the first time in my life."

Puck blows out a frustrated breath and runs a hand over his mohawk. And it just figures the one time he actually _tries_ , he gets it all wrong anyway. He doesn't even know what Kurt wants from him, and for a smart guy, Kurt's spending an awful lot of time standing around with a pretty dumb expression on his face and being no help at all.

"So you _do_ still want…" Kurt blushes and gestures between them, and Puck can't decide whether to laugh or just kiss him until he forgets what they're fighting about.

"Seriously? I made you change out of those fucking jeans so I wouldn't spend the whole night thinking about blowing you in front of your dad."

He watches Kurt swallow hard, hand on his chest just above his heart and Puck laughs to himself and takes a few steps forward. When he reaches out this time Kurt doesn't flinch away; instead he lets Puck pull him forward, then he reaches out to rest his hand on Puck's shirt right above his stomach.

"Guess I should have gone for the quickie in your closet after all," Puck says, voice low and he knows Kurt's dad is right upstairs, and eventually he's going to come down here and check on them. But he can't let Kurt keep thinking Puck didn't mean what he said in the parking lot that first day, so he grips the front of Kurt's shirt and drags him forward, then he fits their mouths together for a hard kiss.

Kurt lets out a muffled 'oh' and Puck takes the in, pushing his tongue past Kurt's teeth to fuck his mouth, and yeah, he's pretty sure Kurt's already getting the picture. It's a promise, one he fully intends to keep. He just hasn't figured out the details quite yet, because he didn't wait this long to give Kurt a decent first time just to throw it away on a quick hand job when his dad's right upstairs.

It's tempting, though, and when Kurt's hand starts to inch down his stomach, he has a hell of a time putting the brakes on. But he does, wrenches their mouths apart and takes a step backwards and reaches up to rub at the back of his neck.

"I'm trying not to fuck up my chance here."

"You're not," Kurt says, voice kind of thick and throaty and the sound of it goes straight to Puck's cock. "You're really, really not."

Kurt pushes forward, hands on Puck again and leaning close to press his nose to Puck's neck and breathe in deep. It's weirdly hot, standing there with his arms around Kurt while Kurt _smells_ him, and Puck figures maybe holding out on him at this point is just uncool. After all, he's never seen the point of being a tease.

He turns into Kurt, mouthing his way along Kurt's cheek until Kurt shifts enough to press their lips together. His hand slides down Kurt's back, cupping his ass and pressing up and Kurt gasps against his mouth and clutches even harder at his shirt. It takes Puck a second or two to figure out that Kurt's tugging at him, trying to get him to move and finally it dawns on Puck that he's aiming for his bed.

And yeah, okay, Puck's been dying to try out that bed since he first laid eyes on it, and now seems like a pretty good time. It's a perfect time; no fucking time like the present, right? He nods and tightens his grip on Kurt and starts moving him backwards, still kissing him the whole time and he can't even remember anymore why he keeps backing off. They could have been doing this all week, in deserted classrooms during lunch and in Kurt's car after school and even in his room with the fucking door wide open. It doesn't matter, nothing matters except getting Kurt out of his clothes right fucking _now_.

They're halfway to the bed when Puck hears it: the heavy sound of a pair of boots on the stairs. He's so amped up just from the feel of Kurt's ass pushing back into his hand that it takes a second or two for his brain to catch up enough to tell him what that sound means, and when he hears the sound of Burt's voice his hand leaves Kurt's ass like it's on fire.

"Son? Everything okay down here?"

Burt's still halfway up the stairs, so he doesn't see Puck pawing at Kurt like he's starving and Kurt's an all-night buffet. When Kurt figures out what's happening he pulls his mouth away from Puck's, sighing like he's seriously _over_ all these interruptions. He doesn't let go right away; his hand's still resting on Puck's chest, eyes closed and Puck can't help smiling at the look on his face when he tilts his head up and says, "Fine, Dad."

The footsteps start moving down the stairs again and Puck lets go of Kurt, taking a few steps backwards and reaching down for a quick, completely useless adjustment. Then Burt's standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking at both of them like he knows exactly what they were doing a few seconds ago.

"Puck and I were just discussing the winter formal," Kurt's saying, and Puck has to hand it to him: he lies like a pro.

"So you're going, then."

Puck looks at Kurt, because it's not like he cares about the dance, but he did say he'd go if Kurt wants, and he meant it. So he's looking, which means he sees the way Kurt's smile sort of slips, just for a second before he recovers. "We're still negotiating."

"Oh."

Burt just looks at him for a second, and Puck's not sure, because he doesn't have a dad, so he doesn't have these weird conversations where nobody actually says anything, but he's pretty sure Burt's kind of…relieved. Like maybe he's sort of hoping that the answer's no, that they'd rather hang out here where nobody will see them, and for some reason he doesn't really get, it makes Puck want to go to the dance after all.

"Well, whatever you kids decide. Finn and Carole are heading out. You should come say goodnight."

"Of course," Kurt says, smile just a little too bright. "We'll be right there."

Kurt waits until his dad climbs back up the stairs before he turns to Puck again, smile shy and a little embarrassed and before Puck can stop himself he's moving forward. He leans in and kisses Kurt, soft this time and slower too, and by the time he pulls back Kurt's sort of leaning against him like he's having a little trouble holding himself up.

"We're going," Puck says.

"I thought you didn't care."

"Yeah, but you do," Puck answers, and when he feels Kurt tense against him he figures it was the wrong thing to say.

"Not if you're only going because you feel obligated."

Puck swallows a sigh, because man, dating Hummel is turning out to be a lot of work. He curls his hand around Kurt's jaw, traces Kurt's blush with his thumb and leans close enough to breathe the words against Kurt's mouth. "I want to go with you."

It's not exactly true; he'd rather get Kurt alone somewhere they won't be interrupted for once than put on some monkey suit and spend a night drinking spiked punch and listening to shitty music, but he can tell Kurt kind of wants to go. Just like he can tell Kurt's dad kind of wants them not to, even if he wouldn't admit it and maybe doesn't even know it.

Anyway, the smile it gets him tells him he's right about Kurt, at least, and Puck figures it's worth suffering through one lousy dance if it means Kurt's going to keep looking at him like that. Kurt stretches up and puts his hands on Puck's shoulders, smiling at him up close for a second before he kisses Puck again.

"When you put it that way I can hardly refuse."

"Good." Puck grins and plants another kiss on the corner of Kurt's mouth. "Guess we'd better get back up there before your dad has to come down and drag me off you."

He feels the shudder that rolls through Kurt and thinks about pushing him back onto the bed and climbing on top of him anyway. But even though Burt's a pretty cool guy, as dads go, Puck's pretty sure he's got his limits, and catching Puck with his mouth wrapped around Kurt's dick would probably put an end to any more invitations to Friday family dinners.

"Carole's taking him to Cincinnati on Thursday," Kurt says, breathing the words against Puck's cheek and Puck has to dig his fingers into Kurt's hips to keep from saying 'fuck it' and dropping to his knees anyway. "He's seeing a specialist at the hospital there. Normally I'd take him, but he doesn't want me missing school to drive him to doctor's appointments."

And Jesus, is Puck ever glad his last detention's on Wednesday, because he's pretty sure Kurt just asked him to blow off school so they can fuck while his dad's out of town. Skipping school's going to land them both in detention this time -- maybe worse -- but it'll be worth another week of detentions to get Kurt alone. Alone with Kurt and his huge fucking bed, and that's a plan Puck can definitely get behind.


End file.
